


Void

by KivaEmber



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Black & White | Pokemon Black and White Versions, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor 2
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Pokemon Crossover, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-26
Packaged: 2017-12-29 23:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1011443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KivaEmber/pseuds/KivaEmber
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hibiki, a Pokemart till jockey in Castelia City, gets dragged into something far bigger than him. Conspiracy, impending end of the world, and a mysterious entity pulling the strings behind all of them... he isn't even a proper trainer!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A small note: It's set in Unova because I love that region the most, but it also has Kalos Pokemon within it (but not in the wild, only Trainer owned). As for setting within Pokemon canon... it will be mentioned occasionally, but they won't have an impact on the current story. Events of Unova happened several years ago, so Team Plasma is an old threat now, and as for N and Black, they won't be appearing (as of now). 
> 
> I'm kind of nervous since Pokemon stories are pretty amazing if done correctly, and this is my first time doing a serious one. I love these two fandoms though, so I am merging them into a hopefully good fic. Open for criticism, or correction of mistakes!

The Growlithe’s fur was soft. It was still showing signs of being freshly hatched from its egg, tiny, dried flecks of fluid clumping parts of its auburn fur together. Alcor gently picked these pieces out as he petted it, feeling it tremble where it was curled up on its lap. He hazarded it to be about nine hours old, the newness of its soul almost painful to his senses. It whimpered softly, blindly snuffling at Alcor’s palm, its eyes still sealed shut. It normally took up to half a day for a newly born Pokemon’s eyes and ears to fully open – if they had them, of course.

 

Abandoned… it was an unfortunate commonality in modern times. Newborns, surprisingly, were the most abandoned. Trainers had latched onto a breeding craze where they discovered that breeding certain Pokemon together would yield offspring with increased durability and abilities, as well as possessing knowledge of its parents’ skills. However, it was largely unregulated, and thousands of trainers ended up dumping ‘failed’ offspring into the wild if it didn’t have the needed stats or movesets – or even _gender_ – required.

 

It was a sad state of things, especially when seen first-hand.

 

“Are you taking him?”

 

Alcor looked up at the husky voice, smiling faintly at the Pyroar. She was the Pokemon that had found the baby Growlithe mewling in some bushes and took it back to the Pokemon Village. The pup’s squalling had been heard long before they had even arrived into the little safe haven for abandoned Pokemon, and Alcor had approached out of sheer curiosity. They were both now sitting in Pyroar’s den – a plastic tarp stretched between two trees with a bed of dried hay and soft heather.

 

“Yes,” Alcor finally said. He stopped his petting, and scooped the Growlithe up against his chest. It yipped in surprise, but he cradled it close like how a human would hold a baby. The Growlithe calmed after a few seconds, snuggling close against Alcor’s chest, its tiny paws tucked close against its body. Alcor could feel warmth soak through his skin, and he felt some of the turmoil in his heart soothe at that sign. The Growlithe’s internal heat was becoming hotter with each passing minute, which meant its hours of exposure to the cold wilderness hadn’t hindered its development at all.

 

Pyroar purred, and Alcor felt the Pokemon’s hot breaths ruffle his hair when the lioness looked over his shoulder. The Growlithe was letting out loud, huffing breaths – snores. Asleep, quite soundly too, with the pink of its tongue sticking out of its mouth.

 

“He smells healthy,” she said. She turned away, and Alcor heard a muffled thump as she slumped onto her side. A glance over his shoulder gave him the sight of the Pyroar licking at a paw. “Humans are becoming more foolish by the day…”

 

Alcor’s smile faded a bit at that, and he sighed quietly, tilting his head back. The dull grey of the plastic tarp loomed down at him, but there was a tiny hole where he could see the night sky above. Stars twinkled brightly, and Alcor’s gaze traced a certain constellation, murmuring softly;

 

“Indeed, mankind has become stagnant as of late – I fear that it will soon…” Alcor trailed off, and he looked away from the bright night sky. “He will be a good companion,” he said abruptly, swiftly changing the subject.

 

Pyroar was watching him carefully from the corner of her eye, but she said nothing. “Will the human be one as well?”

 

Alcor let out a small laugh. Well. “He is… not well socialised, I admit. Very lonely… but that is why they would be good together, I believe.”

 

With that said, Alcor felt he had worn out his welcome. He shifted, holding the Growlithe firmly against him with one arm while crawling out from under the tarp. He lifted himself up onto his feet, taking a brief second to brush strands of hay clinging to his knees, and straightened up. Even if it was late in the evening, Pokemon were still bustling about the small village – all different types and species, living in harmony with one another, brought together through unfortunate circumstances, but finding their own purpose and happiness despite it.

 

“The potential hasn’t been lost,” Alcor said to the sleeping Growlithe, “I believe that even if mankind has lost its way, it can still be redeemed. That is the power of human potential, is it not? That even if the majority is stagnant, there is always some that shine bright, that possess the power to sway dark hearts and understand true freedom…”

 

Alcor’s tone became sombre, and he looked up at the bright night sky again – specifically at the constellation he had been peering at before. The Big Dipper twinkled, and Polaris was the brightest, His light almost glaring whenever Alcor’s gaze fell on it.

 

“…” he gave an inaudible sigh, bowing his head a fraction. Growlithe stirred slightly against his chest, and Alcor swiftly brushed aside the melancholy that weighed him down, lips curving into that faint smile.

 

“But they are still bound by time – and I fear it is short,” he murmured, and Growlithe’s eyes were fluttering. Ah, they would be opening soon – quicker than Alcor anticipated, which meant he didn’t have much time. He needed the baby Pokemon to imprint on the human, not on himself.

 

So Alcor turned away from the lively Pokemon Village, and his unearthly form melted away soundlessly.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Wind chimes were singing softly on the cool breeze, tiny flakes of snow drifting from a dark sky. The stars weren’t visible, blocked behind thick, heavy clouds, and Yamato found himself a bit disappointed by this fact. In the late evenings, when his eyes were too strained to read anymore, but his mind too active to fall into sleep, he would normally pass the time tracing the many constellations littering the sky, trying to name as many stars as he could from memory.

 

Yamato curled his knees up to his chest, watching his breath rise up in a white cloud. He was cold, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. He was sitting on the wooden veranda, leaning against a half opened sliding door, his eyelids drooping every so often, but not fully closing. He was only wearing a jacket over his pyjamas, his feet bare, so the cold was somewhat numbing, but.

 

It was when his head nodded that he heard a noise. He sat up, instantly wide awake, blinking sleep from his eyes as he scanned the vast garden. All he could see was the pure white blanket of snow overtaking the grass, and the gentle rippling of the Goldeen pond – not yet cold enough for the surface to freeze over completely. Yamato rubbed at his eyes with near numb fingers, and pushed himself up onto his feet.

 

“Shining One.”

 

Yamato almost slipped on the cold wood in surprise, spinning around quickly to see a figure standing in the doorway. Cast in a silhouette from the light inside the building, all Yamato could see was the pale hair, and the ruffled collar of his shirt – it was enough to recognise him. It was a hard person to forget.

 

“Ah… Alcor,” Yamato’s tone was irritated, if only because he had probably looked foolish tripping over his own feet. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket, and curled his toes tightly to try and keep them warm as he stared at the taller man. “What are you doing here?”

 

Yamato did not know much about Alcor – he was a mysterious person, and one Yamato doubted was fully human. So far he was guessing the man to be a Zoroark; a rare Pokemon with the ability to take a human form. Either that, or a very _powerful_ Psychic, as Alcor possessed the ability of teleportation and levitation. Despite that, though, the lack of information about the man and his origins, Yamato felt perfectly safe in his presence. Perhaps it was the foolishness of his young age, but, gut instinct told him the creature possessed no threat towards him.

 

“I’m here to give you your new companion,” Alcor said, and he crouched down so he closer to Yamato’s height. It was then that the child saw that Alcor was holding something close to his chest, almost as if he was carrying a baby.

 

Frowning, Yamato moved closer. The thing in Alcor’s arms gave a small squirm, and when Yamato moved closer to see what it was – a baby Growlithe – a pair of dark eyes opened, meeting gazes almost instantly with him.

 

A pink tongue lolled out, the Pokemon’s expression clearly happy, and it yipped up at Yamato, squirming in Alcor’s arms energetically. Yamato just stared at it stupidly, unsure as to why it looked so happy to see him, and raised his gaze to give Alcor a quizzical look.

 

“He’s yours,” Alcor said patiently, and he set the Growlithe down on the wooden veranda. The Pokemon hopped, its stubby legs a bit awkward – obviously first time walking for it – lifting its paws high off the cold wood as it made its unsteady way to Yamato. It was only a few steps, but the puppy still almost tripped over.

 

“…mine?” Yamato just blinked, and looked down at the puppy. Growlithe was now sitting at his feet, looking up at him with its tongue lolling and fluffy tail wagging furiously. It was probably cold – this air was too cold for such a young Fire Pokemon – yet it seemed to be ignoring that in favour of looking up at Yamato with such pure happiness. Yamato just didn’t understand it – well, logically he did, the Pokemon just imprinted on him, but…

 

He bent down and slowly slid a hand out of his pocket. He rubbed his palm over the white tuft of hair between Growlithe’s ears. The puppy instantly licked his hand, and Yamato started away, frowning at his wet hand with some mild disgust.

 

“Will you give him a name?” Alcor asked, and Yamato wiped his hand on his pyjama bottoms silently.

 

He wasn’t sure how to take this. He was only five years old… much too young to train Pokemon. His family had strict traditions on how that went, anyway. At age ten, they were to capture their own Pokemon (and they lived in an area with diverse species to pick from) with assistance from a branch family member, and were then to raise only that Pokemon up until the age of sixteen, where they were deemed mature and skilled enough to go on a journey to create a powerful team – the end goal was to then become Champion, as every Hotsuin in past history had been a Champion at some point in their lives.

 

“Am I expected to hide him?” Yamato asked, shoving his hand back into his pocket with a scowl. Growlithe was sniffing at his bare toes, and its whiskers tickled. He curled his toes even tighter.

 

Alcor just smiled, “There is no need to worry about them,” he said, but didn’t elaborate when Yamato frowned at him.

 

“…Cerberus,” Yamato finally muttered, “I’ll call him that.”

 

“Cerberus…” Alcor repeated, pressing his delicate fingers against his mouth, “How curious. Not many people know of such ancient history…”

 

“The Hotsuin library is quite extensive,” Yamato huffed, “But if it’s an unsatisfactory name-”

 

“No,” Alcor interrupted, shaking his head, “If you wish to call him Cerberus, then it is a fine name, Yamato Hotsuin.”

 

Yamato stared at him for a moment, trying to find some mockery in the other’s tone, before dismissing it with a scoff. He looked down at the Growlithe then, and started to walk – slowly. The puppy followed him instantly, stumbling after him on awkward legs, and Yamato led the puppy back inside, into the warmth.

 

He heard the sliding door rattle close after them, and Yamato abruptly stopped, staring up at a towering bookcase. He closed his eyes briefly, and muttered a very quiet ‘thank you’. He wasn’t given a reply, and when he looked over his shoulder Alcor was no longer there.

 

And with that, the cogs of fate were set into motion.

 

* * *

**  
**   


**12 Years Later…**

* * *

 

_“…in recent news, the Pokemon Breeding Regulations Act, or PBR Act, is still under review. Many Trainers are protesting the Act on the grounds that it would restrict their rights as a Trainer, heighten the age requirement to carry a Pokemon, and could lead to closure of Day Care Centres. Some, however, agree with the Act, stating that it would help to reduce the number of problems associated with overbreeding and the notorious ‘Breeding Farms’ that have arisen in recent years…”_

Hibiki watched the television with glazed eyes, mechanically chewing on his toast. According to the clock on the lower left corner of the News screen, it was close to noon, but Hibiki still couldn’t bring himself to move faster than a lethargic Slugma. Still dressed in his pyjamas, Hibiki just lowered his half eaten toast, and picked up his lukewarm coffee instead, taking a sip.

 

_“…many influential trainers are backing the Act, causing controversy amongst the Trainer community. The most notable one would be leader of the Eighth Gym, Yamato Hotsuin-”_

A knock on the window drew Hibiki’s attention, and he looked away to see a stout Pidgey on his kitchen windowsill. He stared at it sleepily, and the Pidgey stared back before resolutely pecking at the window again.

 

“Daichi’s here then…” Hibiki groaned, pushing himself off of his table and slouching over to the window. He pushed it open, and the Pidgey fluttered in immediately, bringing with it the strong smell of seawater and a strong wind. Wingulls cried outside, and Hibiki leaned over the windowsill to see Daichi standing on the street below, dressed in a thick jacket, his scarf being tugged by the wind.

 

“Hibikiiiii~” Daichi called up to him, waving his hands up high, “Aren’t you even ready yet?! Work starts in fifteen minutes!”

 

Hibiki tugged at the loose collar of his night shirt, not looking embarrassed in the slightest. “Nope! Just gimme ten minutes!”

 

He ducked out of the window then, quickly moving to the breakfast bar to stick his half eaten toast in the bin, chuck the rest of his coffee, and dumped the used plates and cutlery into the sink. In the background, the television continued to speak;

 

 _“-onto other news: a string of terrorist attacks have been plaguing major cities, specifically Castelia City, in the recent weeks. Pokeball factories and supply routes have been the main targets, and some Trainers have even been_ attacked, _their Pokemon and Pokeballs being stolen from them. Thankfully no serious injuries have occurred, but two Trainers were hospitalised two days ago from a recent attack. Police advise that all Trainers are to go in groups when traversing Routes to lower the risk of-”_

Hibiki switched the television off, shuffling out of the kitchen while muffling the yawn. The coffee hadn’t kicked in at all yet. Thankfully his apartment was small, so it didn’t take long to walk into his bedroom (a box room really, with a bathroom attached), quickly getting changed into his clothes. It was a blustery day, so he had his turtleneck sweater on underneath his Bunny hood.

 

Speaking of…

 

“Belle?” Hibiki called, raking his fingers through his hair as he looked himself over in his mirror. Eh. He looked passable. He picked up his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he grabbed his Pokeball off of his bedside table. He waited for a few seconds though, and called again; “Belle?”

 

There was a scrabble of claws, and appearing in the doorway to his bedroom was his Lopunny, Belle. Her amber eyes looked sleepy, and her fur was slightly ruffled, so she had probably been asleep. Hibiki grinned at her, attaching her Pokeball to his belt.

 

“There you are. Time to go, Daichi’s waiting.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“What took you so long?” was the first thing Daichi said to him when Hibiki stepped out of the apartment complex.

 

“Good morning to you to,” Hibiki said brightly, slipping his keys into his hoodie pocket. He hunched his shoulders when a cold wind blew past, cramming his hands deep into his pockets as his Lopunny huddled close against his side. Castelia City was muggy that late morning, but the bad weather didn’t deter the crowd in the slightest. “Got your bike?”

 

“Nah,” Daichi sighed, his shoulders slumping down a fraction. “It, er, it broke.”

 

Hibiki silently raised an eyebrow at him.

 

Daichi started turning red. “N-Not like it matters anyway! Because guess who’s gotten their driver’s license in the mail today!” he rummaged in his pocket, slipped out his wallet, and flipped it open, practically thrusting it into Hibiki’s face. “Ta daaaa! Now I’m allowed to drive the Pokemart’s trucks in all shapes and sizes!”

 

“Congrats,” Hibiki said, pushing Daichi’s wallet out of his face, “You’re moving up in the world – from shelf stacker to truck driver. I’m so proud of you.”

 

“Ha ha ha, laugh it up,” Daichi grumbled, pressing his lips together in a pout. “You can’t say anything. You’re only a till jockey.”

 

Hibiki just shrugged, smiling easily. He wasn’t bothered. Although… he frowned, peering around Daichi’s feet in search of something. “Hey, where’s Jack?”

 

“At the Pokecentre,” Daichi said, slipping his wallet back into his pocket. “I stopped off there early since I knew you’d be late. Ah! Speaking of-!”

 

“Oh,” Hibiki checked his watch, prompted by Daichi’s sudden panic. “It’s twelve.”

 

“We’re late! C’mon!” Daichi grabbed onto Hibiki’s sleeve and with amazing strength, started dragging his friend down the street. It was a narrow one, purely residential, and very close to the ports of the city – it was also very crowded at noon time, since most people used this as a shortcut between streets, so Daichi, Hibiki, and Belle had to rapidly dodge between powerwalking people at max speed.

 

“Why are there so many people?!” Daichi wheezed, very nearly bowling a businessman over when they sharply turned around a corner. They were on the main road that led directly along the seafront of the city, and the roar of traffic almost drowned out the foghorns of nearby ships. In the distance, over the crowd of people’s heads, they could see the bright red roof of the Pokemon Centre.

 

“Keep going!” Hibiki cheered, and Belle cried out encouragement as well, both of them starting to overtake the flagging Daichi. The brunet made a death gurgle, but managed to put on an extra burst of speed. All three of them were sprinting now, but Hibiki could only laugh breathlessly, knowing they were making an absolute spectacle-

 

“ _Oof_!”

 

At the last second a car had pulled out of one of the roads that led onto the port road. Unable to stop, Hibiki slammed right into the side of the bonnet, tumbled over its front, and fell on the other side with a solid thump. It didn’t hurt – well, it did, but nothing major – but Hibiki was still thoroughly winded, and all he could do was muster a wheezing groan.

 

“Bwih?” Belle’s paws were pressing against his shoulder, shaking him in concern, and Hibiki uncurled himself from his awkward tangle, shooting a pained smile at his Lopunny.

 

“Ouch, shit… I’m fine, Bel- _Gah_!”

 

“Hibiki!” Daichi was on him – literally on him. His friend had slid over the bonnet of the car after him in an effort to get to him quickly, and ended up landing on him. His friend cursed, jumped off of him, and crouched down to help him onto his feet. Hibiki just coughed.

 

“Are you okay?” Daichi asked, looking him up and down. Hibiki just nodded mutely, still haven’t caught his breath, and heard the door to the car he had just crashed into open.

 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” The voice was one of a mature woman, and all three of them turned to see a tall woman standing beside the car, her expression genuinely apologetic and concerned. She was dressed oddly though, in some sort of black and gold uniform with a tiny logo on her chest. It was a bisected, golden cross, with three letters above it.

 

 _‘JPs’_?

 

“A-Ah, it’s fine!” Hibiki said, waving it off with a good natured smile. “I’m not hurt! Just bruised, ahaha… Sorry for running into your car like that!”

 

The tall woman just stared at him intently, and Hibiki felt a bit awkward. He felt like she was staring right into him…

 

“Still…” the woman said after a pause, her expression firm, “Please, let me take you to the Pokemon Centre at least, just to check.”

 

The Pokemon Centre was literally just a two minute walk away down the street at this point, and Hibiki could see a traffic jam beginning to form up behind the woman’s dark car. Hibiki shook his head – he was appreciative of the woman’s offer, but he didn’t want to hold her up more than he already had.

 

“No, it’s okay. Daichi’ll take me, right? ‘Sides, uh, you’ve got a line forming…”

 

The woman looked behind her, and he saw the tips of her ears start to turn red. “Ah – yes. Well,” she fumbled briefly, looking at Daichi for a moment, and then Hibiki’s Lopunny – especially at Hibiki’s Lopunny. Her eyes narrowed a fraction, her expression severe, before it eased into a small smile. “I apologise again. Have a nice day.”

 

“You too!” Hibiki said, and quickly pulled Daichi along with him as they started a swift trot down the street. Behind them, he heard the car door close, followed by the engine growling as the woman began to drive away. Strange encounter, but, at least Hibiki hadn’t broken anything. 

 

“Dude, that was…” Daichi shook his head in disbelief.

 

“I know, not a conventional way to pick up chicks…” Hibiki began, his voice lilting mischievously, “If we weren’t rushing so much, I could’ve asked for a hot date. Alas, opportunity missed.”

 

Daichi made a choking noise, and Hibiki realised it was restrained laughter, “Y- _You!_ Going on a date with a _woman_! Ahahahaha!”

 

“H-Hey,” Hibiki pouted at the laughter – even if his lips tried to twitch into a smile, “What’s so funny about that?”

 

“Everyone and their Skitty know that girls aren’t your thing, Hibiki,” Daichi snorted, not hiding his grin in the slightest, “And I mean _everybody_.”

 

Hibiki punched his friend’s shoulder just as they reached the Pokemon Centre’s door, and the glass doors slid open with a cheerful bell ring. They ducked inside, both glancing at the counter to their immediate right at the same time. Their manager, a stern old man with the temperament of a Taurus was already there, giving them the foulest look they had ever seen. He was a stocky man, with a massive, bristly moustache and bushy eyebrows that vibrated violently whenever he was angry. Right now they were going supersonic.

 

“Ah.” Both of them froze in mid-step, and Hibiki saw that his Lopunny was trying to discreetly hide behind him – unsuccessfully, as her ears stuck out on either side of him in clear view.

 

“You’re late,” their manager snorted, his nostrils flaring as a vein started to stick out on his bald forehead.

 

“I got hit by a car, sir,” Hibiki said quickly, trying to seem as injured as possible. Sadly, it didn’t work, and just brought down the full attention of the old bull on him.

 

“Hit by a _car_? Your excuses are getting lamer by the day! Last time you were trampled by a spontaneous herd of Gogoats! Before that kidnapped by a gang of Gengars! Before _that_ cornered by a Scraggy Trio!”

 

“But-”

 

“No buts!” their manager roared, pounding the counter with a meaty fist. Hibiki could feel everyone in the Pokemon Centre staring at them. From the corner of his eye he could see Daichi trying to shrink down into his yellow scarf, his face turning red. “I’m getting tired of you two slackers coming in late – messing around with the merchandise – being silly and unproductive! I’ve had it!”

 

Uh oh. Hibiki lifted his hands in a calming motion, adopting a thoroughly chastised expression. “A-Ah, sir, c’mon… we may be a bit unprofessional at times, but since taking us on, haven’t sales increased by thirty per cent? Surely that means something?”

 

Their manager snorted, his eyebrows bouncing up and down rapidly as the cogs in his brain turned. “Hrmph… thirty five,” he muttered, practically growling out those words. “But that doesn’t excuse your constant tardiness.”

 

“We’re sorry, sir, but we promise it won’t happen again,” Hibiki said, placing a hand over his heart. He upped the charm in his smile, eyes squinting cheerfully. “It’s all my fault anyway, sir. I was late, so Daichi came to get me.”

 

Hibiki held the manager’s gaze, keeping up the open, genuine smile, and the man finally backed down with a snort. Tossing his head, the manager jerked his square jaw, patting the counter with a large hand.

 

“One more chance… don’t screw it up, otherwise I’ll have you out so fast you’ll leave skid marks on the floor. Understand?”

 

“Yes, sir!” Hibiki and Daichi said in unison, even bracing up in attention for full effect. After shooting them one last sour look, their manager stormed off from the counter, vanishing into the storeroom behind it. The door slammed, and a moment of stiff silence followed before chatter began to fill the Pokemon Centre once more.

 

Hibiki’s shoulders slumped, heaving a great sigh. “He is one scary man…”

 

“Y-Yeah…” Daichi slumped as well – but suddenly jolted upright and started towards the counter, leaning right over it so that his legs wheeled in the air wildly. Hibiki just stared at him in utter bemusement.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

“Looking for Jack!” Daichi replied, pushing himself back so he was back on his feet. His expression was creased with worry, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. “He isn’t there… maybe all the shouting scared him off…”

 

‘Jack’ was Daichi’s Eevee, and he was an extremely timid thing just like his owner. Loud noises and confrontation frightened him terribly, and more often than not he would always run away to hide behind or under something. Because of this, Jack wasn’t very good at Pokemon battles, due to his timidness. Hibiki’s Lopunny mock-fought with him to try and boost his confidence, but it was slow going.

 

“I’m sure he’s still in the Pokemon Centre somewhere,” Hibiki said soothingly, “You go man the till, and I’ll look for him, alright? Manager’s already pissed at me, so it’s okay.”

 

Daichi was hesitant, but Hibiki was already walking away from the counter. Hibiki didn’t really care if he lost this job, but Daichi needed it – even if his friend tried to hide it – so Hibiki would take the rap for abandoning his post during working hours. It was no problem.

 

Castelia City’s Pokemon Centre was quite large, as it had to manage an entire city’s worth of Pokemon on an efficient level. There were multiple counters where nurses took injured Pokemon, and it was always bustling with foreign and local Trainers. It was almost like being in an airport, really, with rows of benches and seats, and an electronic board with numbers and Trainer names for such and such Pokemon currently in care.

 

Hibiki and Belle checked under every bench, asked every Trainer they passed, if they had seen a small brown Eevee. So far it was negative, and Hibiki was beginning to get worried. A horrible thought of Jack being kidnapped rose to his mind. It was a city, so that type of thing wasn’t uncommon, and considering the news had said there was a string of Pokemon theft going on… Eevee was a rare Pokemon as well, as it could only be found in a specific place within Castelia City and nowhere else in Unova.

 

“Shit…” Hibiki rubbed anxiously at his hair, looking about the centre’s lobby. He checked the entire thing… maybe Jack ran into one of the back rooms? Or maybe the dorms? The Pokemon Centre was a large place, so it could end up anywhere, really.

 

But no, those areas were always locked with keycard access, so Jack couldn’t end up in those areas. He had to be in the lobby somewhere – he was very good at hiding, so Hibiki was probably just missing him. He made his way back across the lobby, this time on his hands and knees, ignoring the strange looks he was being given by the Trainers sitting there. His Lopunny was copying him, delicately walking on all four limbs as her large amber eyes peered between feet and bags.

 

“Have you lost something?”

 

A deep voice drew Hibiki’s attention, and he looked up to see a pair of knee high, laced up boots. They were highly polished, although the toes were slightly scuffed from overuse. Blinking, Hibiki craned his head back to see that he was kneeling before a tall, young man. Very tall, considering Hibiki’s neck was starting to crick from being so far back. The man was dressed in a long, dark coat, with gold trim and threads everywhere – Hibiki’s first thought was that it was a bit impractical, but then his eye caught on a strange logo on the man’s chest.

 

It was a bisected cross, and it looked… familiar…

 

A flash of the woman that nearly ran him over flittered through Hibiki’s mind. Right! She had that exact same cross! But, hm, she had ‘JPs’ beside it, and this man didn’t have that. Still, the colour scheme of the… uniform was exactly the same. What was it from?

 

“Uh…” Hibiki realised he had been staring for a long minute, and quickly climbed to his feet. He brushed off his knees, and straightened up with an awkward smile. Yeesh, this guy was tall. He was almost a head taller than Hibiki, and now that he was looking closer – the young man looked very _tired_. He had deep, dark circles under his dull pale blue eyes, and his skin was pale to the point of being translucent… and his hair was silver, a somewhat odd colour for this region.

 

“I’ve lost an Eevee – well, not lost, it’s, um, it’s my friend’s, it got scared off by some guy shouting and…” Hibiki stopped, realising he was fumbling. Okay, deep breath, start again. He wasn’t sure why he was getting so twitchy but… he was getting a weird vibe off this guy.

 

“I’m looking for an Eevee, quite small, a really fast runner, and super timid,” Hibiki got out at long last.

 

“An Eevee…” the man said. His gaze was very intense, quite like the woman’s from earlier, and Hibiki fought the urge to fidget under the weight of it. Instead he stared back, refusing to look away and show he was intimidated. He felt it was important that he didn’t, for some reason – his gut instinct was very strong, and right now it was screaming that this guy was… something. Dangerous, really.

 

And oddly familiar. The tired eyes, the tall, imposing, ramrod straight posture… Hibiki had _seen_ this man before, not just the funky uniform.

 

“I believe I saw one running into the men’s toilets about ten minutes ago,” the man finally said. He turned his gaze away from Hibiki then, flipping a phone out of his pocket and looking at the screen. Hibiki just stared at it in bafflement. A…mobile phone? Those things were positively _ancient_. Everyone had an Xtransceiver, or a Holo Caster if they were pretty fancy. He didn’t even know if mobiles were still supported.

 

“The toilets? Um, thank you!” Hibiki offered a short bow, and he leaned past the man to call Belle. His Lopunny trotted her way up to him, and he turned back to the man with another ‘thank you’ on his lips. But-

 

The man was gazing at his Lopunny contemplatively, as if sizing her up, before giving him an equally scrutinising stare. That was twice now… why was today being so weird with stranger staring at him and his Pokemon? Again, the memory of the news speaking about Pokemon theft rose up in his mind, and Hibiki tensed in caution, his smile becoming stiff on his lips.

 

“A Lopunny… hm,” the man smiled – but it was cold and empty. It made Hibiki shiver, “You must respect your Pokemon well if it evolved for you.”

 

“Um… yeah,” Hibiki said awkwardly, “She’s my partner, so…”

 

The man nodded, as if satisfied with something, and with an elegant flick of his wrist, snapped his phone shut with an audible click. “Excuse me.”

 

With that, the man suddenly walked away, disappearing into the throng of Trainers milling about the lobby. Hibiki stared after him, frowning in puzzlement before remembering – Jack! Cursing, Hibiki immediately broke into a run, dodging between Trainers and Pokemon alike until he ended up at the men’s toilet. It was pretty busy, hand driers roaring and taps running; there was no way Jack would stay in this place…

 

“Jack?” Hibiki called, getting on his hands and knees, ignoring the weird looks from the other occupants. He started crawling, trying to ignore the few wet patches on the floor (oh god please let it just be water), Belle following his lead. He peered under doors, but he just saw empty cubicles or human feet. Damn it, where…?!

 

“Pih…!”

 

Hibiki heard the noise very faintly, and he quickly scrambled to the furthest cubicle – it was the large corner one, made for disabled people, and it was a solid door that was partially open. When Hibiki was close to it, he saw a small ball of fur dart out from behind the ajar door and lunge at him. Hibiki quickly sat up and caught the Eevee in midair, holding it close to his chest.

 

“There you are!” he sighed, practically breathless from relief. Guess that weird man had been telling the truth after all! “Me and Daichi were so worried!”

 

“Pwih!” Jack whimpered, snuggling close against Hibiki’s chest, its small form trembling violently. He cooed at it, cuddling it in an effort to calm it down, and slowly climbed to his feet. Ignoring the stares of the other occupants, he quickly walked out of the toilets with Belle on his heels. Aw, the poor thing must’ve been so frightened.

 

“Hey, hey, it’s okay~ we’re going back to Daichi now~” Hibiki half-sang, rocking the Eevee like one would do with a baby. He didn’t care if he looked like an idiot for it. All that mattered to him at that moment was calming the poor Pokemon down.

 

By the time he reached the counter, Jack had calmed down, thoroughly enjoying the cuddles Hibiki was giving it. Daichi saw them immediately and practically vaulted over the counter to meet them halfway. His friend looked like he spent the past fifteen minutes chewing his fingernails into nothing, the skin around his fingertips red and raw looking.

 

“Jack!” Daichi cried, scooping the Eevee up from Hibiki’s arms. He held his Pokemon close, his expression one of pure relief – he even bent over slightly, letting out a large, heavy breath. “Oh thank goodness… I was worried sick!”

 

“Found him in the toilets,” Hibiki said, “Dunno how he ended up in there, but…” he shrugged.

 

“Ah…it doesn’t matter. At least he’s safe,” Daichi said, straightening up with a relieved smile. “The manager swung by, but I said you had to take a dump.”

 

“Thanks,” Hibiki said flatly, but he smiled. “Alright, now that the case of the missing Eevee was solved… let’s get to work.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

There wasn’t much to do when business was low, and Hibiki spent the majority of his time watching the television mounted on the wall near the counter, cheek on hand, and his eyes heavy lidded. It was always tuned to the news for the sake of the Trainers – weather forecasts, Pokemon Hordes, and the current route states were very important to them, after all.

 

Right now, the news was going on about that PBR Act again. Hibiki didn’t know much about it, personally, since he wasn’t into that kind of scene, but from what he could piece together, the government was beginning to try and place regulations on something that was largely unsupervised. Personally, Hibiki thought it was a good idea, since letting teenagers try to breed Pokemon with only basic knowledge was probably not the wisest of ideas. But, he wasn’t a Trainer – not a proper one – so what did he know? Many were against it, so…

 

 _“-it was decided that another vote will be taken on it by the end of the month,”_ the news lady concluded. _“Now it’s time for an update on the recent string of Pokemon theft and terrorism.”_

 

Hibiki straightened up from the counter, his interest peaked. Before he didn’t really pay much attention to it, since crime and the like was always happening, so it wasn’t like it was anything new. But his earlier panic of Jack’s kidnapping, and the weird encounter with that man, made him a bit more conscious about it.

 

 _“This morning, new information arose that ‘Team JPs’ are the ones responsible for these crimes,”_ Hibiki heard the hubbub of the Pokemon Centre die down as the news lady spoke, everyone tuning in, _“Specifics aren’t known, but some sources claim that the team had a leak that went to the authorities. Police are currently comparing Team JPs methods and targets with other criminal syndicates, such as Team Rocket or Team Plasma, in efforts to predict their motivations and movements.”_

Team JPs, huh… Hibiki leaned back on the counter, chewing on his fingernail thoughtfully. New crime syndicates cropped up occasionally, and they scrapped amongst each other when they weren’t busy stealing or vandalising. They were the lowest of the low in Hibiki’s opinion, and he felt his interest slowly wane the more the news lady spoke. Yeah, seemed like another Team Rocket copycat group.

 

It seemed everyone else shared the same sentiment, and the usual chatter rose up again, barely anyone paying any attention to the news. Hibiki picked at a stray piece of nail as the lady continued.

 

 _“However, one thing has been learned from this supposed ‘leak’; rumours of new Legendary Pokemon have been mentioned repeatedly by this ‘Team JPs’ – specifically_ seven _new Legendaries.”_

 

Instantly everyone’s attention was back on the television, eyes wide at the mention of new Pokemon discoveries. Hibiki lifted his gaze up with a frown, not quite believing it. A crazy crime syndicate rambling about seven new Legendary Pokemon? Yeah, Hibiki wasn’t buying it.

 

 _“All we were given was a name for the seven: ‘Septentrione’. Pokemon experts around the globe are currently researching this name, seeing if this is truth – or mere ramblings from a crime group,”_ the news lady cleared her throat, and she peered down at the papers in her hands, her expression hesitant. Looked like she didn’t buy it either, _“Again, if you have any information about these ‘Septentrione’, please go to the authorities. It may help to predict the actions of Team JPs.”_

 

Septentrione… Hibiki squinted in thought. The name scratched at his memory, but he couldn’t quite recall from where. Oh well, Hibiki doubted they were Legendary Pokemon. He knew new ones crawled out of the woodwork every decade or so, but normally one or two at a time – not seven all at once.

 

_“This concludes our report on the matter. Look forward to an update at the evening six o’clock news.”_

 

Hibiki tuned out entirely from the news after that. Team JPs… what type of name was Team JPs, anyway? At least Team Rocket, and Team Plasma, actually had genuine _words_ as their names, and not a weird mesh of three letters-

 

Wait.

 

Hibiki straightened when he remembered the woman from earlier that morning – the woman from this morning had ‘JPs’ on her chest, with the bisected cross, and so did that weird man. Well, he just had the cross, but Plasma had the shield, and Rocket had the weird uniform as their ‘logo’. The obvious conclusion was that they had been part of Team JPs. Obvious conclusion.

 

But that man… Hibiki was certain he had seen him somewhere before. _Somewhere_ … maybe a frequent customer…?

 

_“Onto lighter news, Yamato Hotsuin, the Eighth Gym leader, is currently being pushed to replace one of the Elite Four this coming summer. Popularly known as a prodigy, he became a Gym Leader at the young age of fourteen, and many state him to be the Champion to be.”_

 

Hibiki looked up at the television absently – only to choke and stare outright at it. There was a picture of this ‘prodigy’, and it was – the weird guy from earlier! The pale, drawn face and dull eyes – it was him! It was – Yamato Hotsuin, the strongest Gym Leader in Unova!  

 

Hibiki didn’t know what to think. Even in the picture, he had the bisected cross on his chest. The same one the JPs woman had. What did that mean? Was it a coincidence? Was the Gym Leader – soon to be Elite Four member – part of a terrorist group? If so why was he wearing their logo so blatantly? Was Hibiki just thinking too deeply on this? For this matter, why the hell was he in Castelia City? Wasn’t his Gym in Black City?

 

“This is the weirdest day of my life,” Hibiki finally muttered, gripping his head with a quiet groan. None of that made sense… but it wasn’t like it was any of his business, anyway. He wasn’t a Trainer, and he certainly wasn’t going to cross paths with Team JPs unless they broke down the door to his house and stormed inside. If ‘Yamato Hotsuin’ was part of the team, he’d soon be found out and arrested like Giovanni was decades ago.

 

Yeah, totally not his problem.

 

Brushing the issue aside, Hibiki rested against the counter once more, and started to inspect his nails – or was going to, until the manager bellowed from the backroom;

 

“Kuze! We need more Pokeballs!”

 

“Yes, sir!” Hibiki called, straightening up with a groan. Well, Daichi was in the breakroom, but it looked like he would have to go back on early. Damn it, only five more minutes and they would’ve switched. Shrugging it off, Hibiki woke up his Lopunny from where she was sleeping underneath the counter, and grabbed his friend from the break room. Once that was settled, Hibiki left the Pokemon Centre on his delivery, squinting when he got a face full of fine rain.

 

“Of course it’s raining,” he sighed, breaking into a light jog with Belle on his heels. Thankfully in this weather the crowd had thinned from earlier in the day, and Hibiki ducked and weaved between passerbys, his feet splashing in forming puddles. His destination was a group of storehouses near the route leading to Nimbasa city. Due to the cramped streets of Castelia City, it was difficult to have a steady supply of trucks leading to and from the port to the route. It was a bit of a design flaw in Hibiki’s opinion, but what did he know? He wasn’t an architect.

 

It took almost fifteen minutes of jogging to get to the storehouses, and Hibiki wrestled his way past the heavy door leading to the storehouses’ reception. A tired looking woman was sitting behind thick, bulletproof glass, her mouth moving as she chewed on a wad of chewing gum.

 

“Yo! Castelia Pokemart – need some more crates of Pokeballs?” Hibiki chirped, smiling brightly. The woman seemed unmoved.

 

“Uh huh…” she drawled, and she slid out a piece of paper under the glass. “Y’know the drill. Fill this out…” she picked up a landline phone receiver, and pressed a dark green button. “Shipment to Castelia Pokemart – Pokeballs. What kind?” she shot at Hibiki.

 

“Uh…” he froze, realising that the boss hadn’t exactly told him… shit. “Basic and Great?”

 

The woman nodded, and relayed the order down the phone while Hibiki quickly, and scruffily, filled out the paperwork. That boring piece of transaction completed, Hibiki excused himself out of the reception, and tugged at his hoodie. The rain was coming down harder, and Hibiki was careful going down the metal steps leading from the reception. When his feet met concrete, he started back towards the Pokemon Centre when-

 

“H-Hey! What are you guys doing?!”

 

A panicked shout reached Hibiki, and he paused, turning to the source of it. Belle, beside him, pricked her ears slightly, a small, anxious noise leaving her. A bad feeling settled in Hibiki’s gut, but he hoped that it was just some incompetent workers dropping crates, or something – but that hope was quickly dashed when he heard the cry of a Pokemon, followed by screams.

 

Hibiki was running towards the source before consciously aware of it, Lopunny on his heels. The noise was happening behind the closest storehouse, and the closer Hibiki got, the louder the noise of a Pokemon battle raging got. Hibiki almost slipped over the concrete when he skidded around the corner and saw-

 

People in yellow shirts were the first thing Hibiki saw – the next was a Tyrantrum crushing a squealing Machoke between its massive jaws, Hibiki able to hear the creak of bone the more pressure the Dinosaur Pokemon applied. A worker – possibly the Machoke’s Trainer – was crying out in horror, being held back by his fellow workers as he tried to reach his pained Pokemon.

 

Behind the Tyrantrum were the yellow shirts Hibiki had first seen. It was a man and a woman, standing side by side in identical positions, and the yellow shirts were the only notable thing about them, their hair and eyes dark and dull. Their expressions didn’t show any glee or malice either – just cold boredom. It was almost creepy how emotionless they seemed, and when the noise of bone breaking snapped out sickeningly, the man called out blandly; “Stop.”

 

The Tyrantrum dropped the Machoke instantly, its fangs stained red. The Pokemon tumbled onto the concrete below with a wet thump, the poor thing whimpering in pain, and the worker hurriedly recalled it, his face pure white.

 

“Now then,” the man spoke, “I think we showed how serious we are. Move out of the way, unless you want us to finish the job…?” Then, it was _then_ , that Hibiki saw the first sign of cruelty, a faint tilt of the man’s lips. “A pokeball’s a fragile thing, after all.”

 

Hibiki finally couldn’t stay quiet anymore, and balling his fists tight, he let out a loud, angry; “ _Hey_!”

 

Immediately, the man, woman, and the Tyrantrum turned on him. Hibiki didn’t flinch, and beside him, he felt Belle fluff up in anger, her paws lifted in preparation, and her feet set apart in a fighting stance. They were both ready.

 

“Oh, it looks like a witness has stumbled across us,” the woman drawled, looking at Hibiki like was a piece of dirt she stepped on. “I’ll take care of it.”

 

Taking a resolute step forwards, she unclipped a Pokeball from her belt and tossed it forwards almost casually. In a burst of light an Aggron formed, its heavy weight making the ground rumble when it landed with a bellowing roar. Its blue eyes were trained on Belle, a vicious hiss leaving it.

 

Hibiki could see the man and his Tyrantrum turn away in open disinterest, starting towards the huddled bunch of workers – and he felt his blood boil. No way. _No fucking way_.

 

“Belle! Jump Kick that asshole!” Hibiki ordered, already sprinting forwards. Even if he had to tackle that guy to the ground, he was gonna stop him! The Aggron loomed in his way, and the woman called out a bored order – “Iron Tail” – but his Lopunny was already moving with insane speed. Just as Hibiki quickly dropped, skidding across the slippery, wet ground, Belle slammed a harsh kick right into Aggron’s shoulder – just as the Steel Pokemon began to spin around to swing its tail.

 

The Fighting Move was enough to send the Aggron stumbling, interrupting its move – and Hibiki slid harmlessly under its tail. He scrambled up onto his feet, continuing his run as the woman shouted, the first sign of emotion appearing in her voice. Hibiki’s sights were set on the man though – and the man started to turn, his mouth open-

 

Hibiki tackled him, and they both fell on the ground hard. Behind them Hibiki could hear Belle battling with the Aggron – and winning, judging by the frustrated cries of the Steel Pokemon – but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. The man – the JP’s man, Hibiki realised a split second, seeing the logo emblazed on the asshole’s chest – rammed his knee into his stomach, hard enough that Hibiki saw stars. He wheezed, and was shoved off of the JP’s grunt roughly.

 

“You little-!” The man spat, and just as Hibiki was quickly climbing onto his knees – a foot slammed into his side, sending back on the floor with a cry of pain. “How dare you lay your hands on me, you piece of trash Trainer!”

 

“W-Who’s the piece of trash?” Hibiki coughed, glaring up at the man. A squeal suddenly drew his attention, and he hurriedly looked behind him to see that the Aggron had gotten its claws on Belle, and was crushing the squirming Lopunny between its powerful hands.

 

“Belle!” Hibiki cried, ignoring the pain in his body and scrambling to his feet – only to be shoved harshly onto the floor with a foot slamming down on his back.

 

“You’re not going anywhere! Filth like you don’t deserve Pokemon, so we’ll take it away from you,” the man sneered, grinding in his heel – but all Hibiki could hear were the pained cries of Belle, all he could see was how his Lopunny was desperately trying to lash out with her powerful legs, but unable to reach, her eyes bulging in panic and fear. No… no no no-!

 

“Enough.”

 

“Huh?!” Hibiki felt extra weight being pressed down on him, and he coughed slightly – but felt relief when the Aggron immediately stopped crushing Belle, its massive head swinging towards the source of the voice. Hibiki couldn’t quite see from his vantage point, but he felt something strange fill the air.

 

“Enough,” the voice repeated. It was soft and gentle – yet there was a sharp undercurrent of steel in it. There was a brief silence that followed it, and the voice continued. “This is unnecessary.”

 

“Who are you? Another wannabe hero?” The man growled, and he snapped his fingers. “Tyrantrum, get rid of this intruder. Tch, they keep crawling out of the woodwork…”

 

Strangely, the man’s Tyrantrum didn’t move. A painful crane of Hibiki’s head saw that the Dinosaur Pokemon seemed hesitant, its nostrils flaring in anxiety. He didn’t know what was happening at all, but, the Aggron had stopped hurting Belle as well, its own body language showing signs of fear –

 

“Hey!” The man’s voice became angry, “Are you listening to me?! I said get rid of _him_!”

 

“It is highly advised that you leave this area for now,” the voice suggested, “I dislike interfering in matters that would otherwise hinder the consequences of one’s choices, but…” the voice trailed off, and then sighed almost despairingly.

 

There was a long moment of silence, and then Hibiki heard the woman move closer, whispering;

 

“I recognise him. He is… that _man_. The one that the Chief is…”

 

“…! S-Shit…” Fear suddenly flooded the man’s tone, and he hurriedly stepped off of Hibiki, and the Aggron dropped the Lopunny like it was on fire. Ignoring everything, Hibiki scrambled to his feet and ran to his Lopunny, not caring that he was within striking distance of the Aggron as he picked up his precious Belle.

 

“Belle! Are you okay?!” he asked, gently cradling his Pokemon in his lap. Belle chirped weakly – and Hibiki almost sagged in relief. She was okay. A bit bruised and close to fainting but – she was okay. Oh thank _God_.

 

A strange silence filled the area, and Hibiki quickly looked up – the Aggron was gone (When?), and so were the man, woman, and the Tyrantrum. All that was left were a group of confused workers, and a – man?

 

He was dressed strangely, with a striped, ruffled shirt, and black and red shoes, with pale hair, and sleepy looking eyes with extremely long eyelashes. Hibiki got a flash to the strange man, Yamato Hotsuin, and he couldn’t help but think how similar they looked. At that thought, he quickly looked at the man’s chest, but couldn’t see a cross or a JPs logo…

 

The strange man pressed his fingers against his mouth, and smiled faintly. “Our meeting is too early, Shining One,” he said, his voice so very soft. With those odd words, the man turned on his heel, and when Hibiki blinked, he was gone. All he could do was stare, unable to quite process what had quite happened, until-

 

“Oi! Kid, are you okay?” one of the workers was beside him, his worn face creased with worry. Hibiki nodded mutely at him, reality racing faster than his dazed mind could take, and he felt a strong hand pat his shoulder. “Hey, come with us, we’ll give you a lift down to the Pokemon Centre. We’re taking Clive down because… y-yeah…”

 

“Yeah…” Hibiki said quietly, and he slowly stood up. Belle was quite heavy, but he still cradled her gently against his chest, trying not to jostle her too much. He wasn’t quite sure on what to think about what just happened, but he had a feeling that he just stuck his foot into something that was going to dog his every step from now on. Team JPs…

 

Hibiki had been right. They were nothing more than a group of thugs. But who was that man…? The strange man who saved him and Belle? He didn’t get a chance to say ‘thank you’.

 

And the cogs of fate continued spin, moving ever faster towards its end destination. 


	2. Chapter 2

There was a strict hierarchy in JP’s, and Roland was right at the bottom of it.

 

He didn’t mind it though – he saw the tall mountain he had to climb as a challenge, and this seemed like the biggest one yet. He was a young Ace Trainer who had spent too long blunting his claws on weak, city boy Trainers, and when he had heard of this group whose sole purpose was to raise to higher and stronger heights of skill and power… it was almost too good to be true! So easy to sign up as well, just show your ability in a Pokemon battle to a JP’s Admin and you were in.

 

Roland had expected strict background checks, to be honest, but he had heard on the grapevine that that came later, when you weren’t a nameless, faceless grunt. The uniform got better too when you rose in the ranks, which was more than enough motivation in Roland’s opinion. Great team or not, the uniform of the lowly grunt was simply hideous. Yellow dress shirt and simple, black trousers? Garish.

 

…and, thinking on it, the jobs he had to do were quite plebeian. He had only been part of JP’s for a week, and all he had done was move boxes from one place to another. Roland didn’t even know what was in them, but he didn’t want to jeopardise any possibility of promotion by nosing into things bigger than him. He had to think: challenge, titles, prestige – better uniform.

 

But it was just… so dull. Roland knew how the world worked – and yes, once upon a time, he was an incompetent, weak Trainer that had to work from the bottom up – but it was aggravating to go from top dog in his local area to some dogsbody whose only job was to pick up a box, put it on a truck, and drive said truck to the middle of _nowhere_.

 

Which is where he was in that exact moment of time; the middle of nowhere.

 

It was raining too, making the windscreen fogged up and opaque from condensation and water. Roland was hunched over his dashboard; the dim light from the truck’s ceiling showing him the pale lines of the town map. The roads were different to the Trainer routes he was used to taking, most of them out of the way of known Pokemon habitats – it made them difficult to navigate if you weren’t used to it.

 

“Tch…” Roland leaned back in his seat, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. An inquiring mewl drew his attention, and he flashed a reassuring smile at his partner; his Umbreon – Luna – was curled up on the passenger seat, a small blanket draped over her small form. It was getting quite cold… especially so close to the sea.

 

“It’s alright. We’re just a little off course,” Roland said, turning the keys in the ignition. The truck roared to life, and the window wipers cleared up the windscreen. The dark trees loomed over them, and Roland frowned when he saw that a fog had rolled in during his ten minute break. Oh, you had to be kidding…

 

“There should be a main road about here _somewhere_ … it’s alright if we’re a few hours late, right? We’ll just blame it on the fog,” Roland chattered to his partner, trying to keep his nerves frosty. An Ace Trainer didn’t flap after all, even after being demoted to faceless grunt. He pressed his foot down on the gas, and the wheels crunched over loose gravel. “We can’t be far either, we saw a sign for Castelia City about fifteen minutes ago…”

 

Luna bobbed her head in agreement, and she settled her head on her paws. Leaving his partner to her nap, Roland concentrated on the uneven, rough country road he had managed to get himself on. These roads were treacherous-

 

“ _Whoa_!”

 

The truck suddenly bounced, its entire rear lifting a whole foot off the ground, and Luna let out a startled chirp when Roland slammed the breaks on. His heart was hammering when everything settled, and he realised that the _ground_ had lurched. Roland leaned against his steering wheel, peering out of the windscreen even if the only thing he could see were trees and rocks. Was there a Pokemon battle happening nearby? That had felt like a mean Earthquake.

 

But wait, his cargo… the entire truck had bounced…

 

Shit.

 

“Stay there,” Roland ordered, unbuckling his seatbelt and wrenching open the truck door. He slid out of the car, grimacing when his boots immediately landed in a muddy puddle that came up to mid-shin. Muttering under his breath, he lifted a hand to shield his eyes as he squelched his way to the back of the truck. He heard soft pitter patter of paws behind him, and felt a surge of fond exasperation at his partner’s disobedience. She was such a mother…

 

The truck was a pick up one – a waterproof tarp was stretched over it, acting as a roof, and when Roland pulled down the small door, large, heavy boxes lined the insides. Plastered on their sides, in big bold, red lettering were the words: “ **FRAGILE – BIOHAZARD** ”.

 

Like Roland said, there was no way he was sticking his noses into boxes like that without permission.

 

Nothing smelt bad though, and there were no leaks, and the boxes seemed unscathed. Roland stood there in the pouring rain for a few more minutes though, feeling Luna curl around his ankles. There wasn’t another Earthquake, and the cargo seemed okay. Roland felt some of the tension in his stomach slacken. Thank goodness.

 

He lifted the door up, closing it firmly, and waded his way back to the front of the truck. Luna trotted at his heels – and abruptly stopped with a nervous noise.

 

“Hm?” Roland stopped, half turning to his partner. Luna’s tail was fully erect, and so were her ears, her crimson eyes staring into the nearby treeline. Her small body thrummed with tension, and Roland let his hand settle on one of the pokeballs attached to his belt.

 

“…is there something there?” Roland asked, his voice pitching into a low whisper. Luna didn’t move – didn’t even blink – only to abruptly dart forwards and slam right into Roland’s shins.

 

He yelped – from surprise – and almost slipped in the mud. “W-What the he- Luna!”

 

Luna was chirping and mewling wildly, shoving and pushing frantically against his legs. For such a small Pokemon, her power was enough to force him back a few steps towards the truck. The message was clear – ‘get in the truck and go!’

 

Roland didn’t even hesitate. He quickly scooped up his Umbreon and jogged to the front of the truck. He almost slipped a few times, and when he reached the open door, practically tossed his partner inside before clambering after her. He could feel it then – it was Something. He couldn’t describe it, but it was a heavy sense of foreboding and fear that washed over him like a physical cloud of poison. His fingers were shaking as they gripped onto the steering wheel, his foot slamming down on the accelerator.

 

He heard the wheels spin, a low whine building up in the engine as they… didn’t move forwards. The truck shuddered, and when Roland slammed his foot down again, a sinking feeling overtook his heart. No way… were they stuck in the mud? What was he-

 

Luna let out a bark, and Roland shouted when the entire truck jolted violently enough that it slid forwards a few inches in the mud. Breathing heavily, Roland looked at the rearview mirror – the side mirror – nothing was showing up on it except water – but Luna was barking wildly, leaping about on the passenger seat, her rings glowing and eyes bulging in panic-

 

“ΩΨβ%?”

 

There was no way to describe the voice that gurgled from outside the truck. It was alien and terrifying, the noise slicing right into his ears and piercing into his brain. Luna was cowering against the seat now, entirely silent, and Roland was gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were turning white, his eyes staring up at the ceiling of the truck. The noise… it had come up from there…

 

“…Luna…” Roland whispered, lifting a hand off the steering wheel. He very calmly, very slowly, opened his door, and the noise of rain filled the small space of the truck. That voice gurgled again, louder, and the truck shuddered slightly, something metallic scraping against its ceiling. “Luna… run…”

 

His partner didn’t move. Her eyes were staring at him, fear evident in them, but also fierce loyalty. Roland felt his lips quiver at the sight, and he inhaled deeply – the truck shuddered again, the gurgling – and he lunged sideways, scooping up Luna and practically throwing himself out of the truck.

 

He landed in the mud, feeling the slime soak into his clothes and his hair, his knees and feet slipping in it as he tried to scramble to his feet – and he didn’t dare look behind him, didn’t even dare, managing to find his footing, holding Luna so tight to his chest as he ran towards the treeline-

 

A high pitched ringing screamed out, and Roland only had the glimpse of a massive fire roaring behind him before his vision became white – then nothing – then

 

 

* * *

 

_“…an explosion occurred late last night on the outskirts of Castelia City that led to the death of Roland Caster, a well-known Trainer from Black City. Authorities are currently looking into the matter…”_

 

Ronaldo shut the Xtransceiver off with a small frown, shoving his hand into his pocket immediately after. It was only after noon, and already the news was chattering about things that they shouldn’t’ve known about yet. Unless the witness immediately went to the press after informing them…

 

The noise of wheels on gravel drew his attention, and he looked over to see that another police car was slowing to a stop just before the crime scene. Recognising it as the arrival of fellow colleagues, Ronaldo turned away and over the yellow tape cordoning off the area.

 

What had once been a narrow road through a thick forest was now a massive, flat clearing. The entire area was filled with wet ash, the rain having formed it all together in a sticky, disgusting layer that made it nigh impossible to take evidence. The hollow shell of a truck sat in the middle of the clearing, its cargo reduced to charred pieces of wood and a strange, black tar like substance that none of them had even dared to touch (not after finding a miraculously intact piece of crate that said ‘BIOHAZARD’).

 

The entire thing was beyond Ronaldo. They had only managed to identify the corpse due to his Trainer ID that had survived the blast (somehow) – although they were waiting on the dental records as well to confirm it. Roland Caster was an Ace Trainer from Black City – why would he be driving a truck near Castelia City at midnight carrying biohazard cargo? A quick look into Caster’s history said that he was a Trainer through and through, and that he only had a driver’s license because his parents owned a local delivery service in Easten Unova. There was no reason for him to be here.

 

Ronaldo scrubbed the back of his neck. That wasn’t all. The entire area was void of Pokemon as well. There wasn’t a single one in the immediate area, and those that were on the outskirts of it were downright terrified and skittish. Ronaldo didn’t know what that meant, but it wasn’t anything good, that was for sure. If whatever caused this got into Castelia City…

 

A low whistle pierced the air, and Ronaldo half turned to see one of the local policemen – Davis – lifting up the brim of his hat an inch, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

 

“Whoa… that must’ve been one big explosion…” he muttered. He was a young man, a very recent member of Castelia’s police force. There was something about him that made Ronaldo on edge, but he just attributed it that to their severe differences in personality (although the detective side of Ronaldo was always watching… just in case).

 

“Suspected to be man-made in nature,” Ronaldo replied stiffly, “If not, then whatever Pokemon caused this would have been killed in the blast as well.”

 

“It’s happened in the past – I heard,” Davis added, his blue eyes scanning the cordoned off area. There was something too calm about his expression – his gaze was almost bored. “That some Electrodes got too wound up, and, boom…”

 

“So far we’re suspecting it to be man-made until that doubt is cleared up,” Ronaldo said, frowning at Davis’s words. Electrodes weren’t even local to this area – in fact, there weren’t any Pokemon near Castalia City that knew Explosion or Self-Destruct. Not unless they learned it via breeding or TM.

 

Davis just nodded, and slipped his notebook out, jotting some notes down. Ronaldo left him to it, walking away a few paces and slipping his hand out of his pocket. He turned on his Xtransceiver, swiftly changing it when he realised it was still tuned onto the news;

 

_“-Hotsuin will soon be part of the Elite Four. Confirmation came early this morning from a reliable source, stating that-”_

 

* * *

 

 

Hibiki gently brushed his fingers through Belle’s fur, getting out all the snarls and tangles from her bath, his gaze focused on the television. The news was chattering about an explosion on the offskirts of the city – a Trainer was even killed – but he wasn’t really interested in that. He was listening for anything about the Team JP’s attack that happened in the storehouses yesterday, but the news hadn’t said a single peep about it.

 

Which was a bit odd in Hibiki’s opinion. A guy’s Pokemon had been seriously injured, and they had reported it to the police and everything – him and a group of burly workers. He had been certain that the press would’ve been hopping all over anything new about the mysterious ‘Team JP’s.

 

But so far… nothing. All the news had spoken about was the explosion last night, and Yamato Hotsuin’s promotion in life. It was weird.

 

“Ta daaaa~” Daichi’s voice broke Hibiki out of his brooding, and the next second a cup of hot chocolate was shoved under his nose, the whipped cream topped high almost spilling onto him. “One Special Shijima!”

 

“…’special Shijima’?” Hibiki parroted, taking the cup before Daichi spilt it all over him. Belle shifted where she’d been sitting on his lap, ending up on the sofa next to him – and Daichi flopped down on Hibiki’s other side, a cup of hot chocolate in his own hands.

 

“Well… you know, I tried to give it some pizzazz,” Daichi mumbled, tucking his legs up close and under him. His hair was a little fuzzy from a recent shower, and Hibiki could see that his friend was also wearing one of his favourite pyjama sweaters – great for in cold weather. He pulled a playful pout.

 

“Oi… isn’t that mine…?”

 

Daichi avoided his gaze, dragging his finger around the rim of the cup to chase any overspilling bits of cream. “Uh…mmm… well, you see… oh, look!”

 

Hibiki turned back to the television, and immediately perked up, a surprised smile spreading across his face. There was a clip on the news – one of a short haired, young woman with her Jolteon awkwardly accepting some sort of plaque before a building. Hibiki recognised it instantly – Nimbasa’s Gym.

 

“I can’t believe it…” Daichi was leaning forwards, and Hibiki could see splotches of whipped cream land on his friend’s bare knee. “It’s Io!”

 

“Looks like she managed to win the place for Nimbasa Gym,” Hibiki said, “Wasn’t the challenge to win it a modelling contest though-”

 

“Hibiki!” Daichi started frantically patting at his borrowed sweater, then at his wrists – the hot chocolate rapidly changing hands. “Aw damn it – gimme your Xtransceiver!”

 

“Say ple-wah! _Oi_! Daichi-!!”

 

Daichi grabbed onto Hibiki’s wrist, practically hauling him across his lap. Now in an awkward position of being face to crotch with his best friend, Hibiki just laid there in an unimpressed tangle while Daichi fiddled with the Xtransceiver attached to his wrist. Belle, bless her heart, had managed to rescue Hibiki’s hot chocolate during the confusion… only to start drinking it herself. Traitor.

 

“Where is she- aha! …hey! Io! We just saw you on the news! Congrats!”

 

“Oh…!” Hibiki’s heard Io’s soft voice exclaim in surprise, followed by a shy laugh, “Um, thank you, but I…wasn’t very good, though, for the camera…”

 

Io did look a bit uncomfortable on the television from what Hibiki saw, but Daichi swiftly put her concern at ease; “What are you talking about? I think you look great- er, and confident. Lugh looks good too.”

 

“Mmhmm!” Io’s voice immediately became brighter at the mention of her Jolteon, “He was so excited when we got the news!”

 

“Daichi,” Hibiki interrupted, “I kinda want to move from your crotch.”

 

Daichi ignored him. “So how’ve you been? We haven’t spoken in a while!”

 

“Oh…sorry…” Io sounded chastised, and Hibiki felt, rather than saw, Daichi wince at his misstep. “I’ve been okay. Um, how about you and Hibiki?”

 

“We’ve been-” Daichi paused, and Hibiki knew he was wondering whether to mention Hibiki’s skirmish with Team JP’s yesterday or not, “-fine,” he settled for. “You know, same ol’, same ol’.”

 

“Mm…that’s good…” Io said quietly, “I heard that some bad things have been happening down in Castelia City…”

 

“It’s okay! You know me and Hibiki – we’re just some lowly PokeMart employees! We won’t get caught up in that kind of stuff!”

 

“…”

 

Io was a smart girl, despite her meek nature, and Hibiki knew that Io probably figured that that wasn’t true at all. Aside from the fact that trouble followed them both like a Magneton to a Steelix, PokeMart dealt with PokeBalls, which was what Team JP’s were currently after. The two were going to inevitably clash.

 

A muffled voice came from Hibiki’s Xtransceiver then, and Io made a disappointed noise.

 

“Um, sorry, Daichi, but… I have to go now…”

 

“It’s okay,” Daichi smiled, “We’ll talk to you later.”

 

Hibiki’s arm was returned to him, and he sat up, shaking his wrist out to get blood flowing back into his fingers. He could only stare at his friend – stare at how Daichi spilt cream and hot chocolate all over himself during his talk with Io, and didn’t even seem to care.

 

“You’ve got it so bad,” Hibiki blurted.

 

Daichi’s ears started to turn red, “S-Shut it.”

 

Hibiki started to grin, but thankfully didn’t push the subject. “So, you gonna stay in my sweater all night or do you have to confess something to me?”

 

Scoffing, Daichi tugged the collar of his borrowed sweater up to his nose, leaning back against the sofa with a suggestive look. “…I have something to tell you, ever since I met you, Hibiki…”

 

“Oh god, is this happening? Is this real life?” Hibiki mock-gushed, pressing a hand against his chest as he leant in expectantly. Daichi snorted – noise muffled into Hibiki’s sweater – and pushed him away with a shake of his head.

 

“In your perverted dreams,” Daichi mumbled. The collar of the sweater was lowered, and he took a sip of his half-forgotten hot chocolate, the cream now mostly melted at this point. “S’good to see that your sense of humour’s intact though…”

 

“…yeah,” Hibiki sighed, his mood sobering. The pair of them watched the television in the silence. It had moved on from Io’s graduation as leader of Nimbasa’s Gym to the stock market. It was mind-numbingly boring after the first three seconds.

 

“We should go out,” Daichi said abruptly, sitting up straight. “Let’s go to Nimbasa City! We’ve got the whole weekend to ourselves, after all!”

 

It didn’t sound like a bad idea, thinking on it, and Hibiki felt it would be a good idea to leave Castelia City for a few days. It was a big city, but Hibiki would be going to the storehouses often, due to his job, and he’d rather not encounter Team JP’s again. Belle had almost gotten seriously hurt – and so did he! If it wasn’t for that passerby, he would be in hospital right now – or worse.

 

“Sure,” Hibiki smiled, “I haven’t seen their musicals in a while…”

 

“Two words: Roller-coaster,” Daichi gushed, “Or the sports stadium! I even hear they’re making a skiing facility on the route towards Black City.”

 

Knowing that Daichi was a keen snowboarder, Hibiki couldn’t withhold a grin at that. A skiing facility in _Nimbasa_? It was a pretty warm place even in the winter, so hearing that was a bit of a surprise. Still, Pokemon and modern technology was a miraculous thing – it was possible to have it, and make it cost effective too.

 

“How about Battle Subway?” Hibiki suggested. He wasn’t a serious battler – really, he battled very casually, usually against Daichi – but his recent loss against Team JP’s got him thinking about it. He should probably train Belle a bit more so that she could protect herself better against stronger foes. What better way to do that than in a controlled and safe environment of Battle Subway?

 

“Huh, wouldn’t’ve expected that from you…” Daichi mumbled, and his expression was slightly hesitant. He wasn’t a serious battler either – despite dabbling as a Trainer in his early teenage years. He even had a full six team, even if it mostly consisted of Normal types; Eevee, Pidgey, Litleo, Lillipup, Zigzagoon and Skitty. Truthfully, Hibiki thought his friend would be better at Contests than battles, if only for the sheer cute factor. Every single one of his Pokemon were downright _adorable_.

 

“But okay,” Daichi said after a moment of thought. “It can’t hurt. Double battle?”

 

“Yeah,” Hibiki nodded, “I’ll bring the brawn, and you can bring the meatshields.”

 

“M-Meatshields?” Daichi squawked, sounding downright scandalised. “My Pokemon aren’t meatshields! They’re – awesome in their own unique way!”

 

Hibiki smiled falsely, then, leant over to Belle and stage-whispered; “Meatshields.” His Lopunny nodded in solemn agreement.

 

Daichi’s eyebrow twitched. “I’ll show you… goddamn meatshield…”

 

“Sure yo-” Hibiki began, but cut himself off when the ground trembled very minutely, the light and television flickering off and on. The pair of them looked at the ceiling in confusion, watching Hibiki’s overhead hanging light vibrate before calming. Huh, an earthquake?

 

“Is someone battling nearby?” Daichi wondered, taking a small gulp of his hot chocolate. Hibiki saw his Lopunny quickly lose interest and turn back to her own drink. “I thought no one was allowed to near residential areas…”

 

“They’re not, but…” Hibiki shrugged. People had Pokemon use dangerous moves in the worst of areas. It wasn’t anything new. He turned his attention back to the television, and it had moved onto the weather. More rain to come…

 

The ground vibrated again, this time a bit more firmly – causing the light and television to switch off immediately. Hibiki let out a curse, and placed his hot chocolate onto his coffee table, pushing himself off of the sofa to sulk over to his living room window. Shoving it up and open allowed Hibiki to lean out, and he could see that the entire block was out. The darkness was somewhat disturbing to see, as Castelia was normally bright even at midnight.

 

“Black out. Idiots must’ve done it near this block’s generator or something,” Hibiki grumbled, leaning back inside and slamming the window down.

 

“Great… guess I _am_ sleeping here tonight, then,” Daichi said, sounding not very annoyed by this. Hibiki rolled his eyes playfully. Like his friend had other plans before this.

 

“Scared of the dark?” Hibiki teased, turning around and resting his ass against the edge of the window. In the gloom, Hibiki could see Daichi pulling a face at him, sort of anyway, and he just stuck his tongue out in reply, pushing off from the window.

 

Belle interrupted the playful atmosphere with a strange noise then. She sat up straight, her ears alert, and Hibiki heard the scrabble of claws when Daichi’s Eevee, Jack, came barrelling out of Hibiki’s living room, yipping up a panicked storm. He heard Daichi exclaim in surprised confusion when Jack leapt onto his lap, but Hibiki’s eyes were on Belle, seeing the tension beginning to tighten in her lean body.

 

Unease started to overtake Hibiki then, and he turned back to the window. He lifted it open, leaning out and staring down into the street. It was utterly dark – but not silent. In a rising clamour, he could hear a multitude of Pokemon cries filling the air – barking, squawking, screeching – Hibiki hadn’t heard anything like it.

 

“What the hell…” he muttered, and gripped onto the windowsill when that tremor rocked the ground again – this time a bit more violently and – the skyline lit up in a flash of red and orange. An explosion. Hibiki squinted against the bright glare, only seeing it for a few seconds before it died down. Blinking spots from his vision, he leaned back in, slamming the window shut and standing there with his heart hammering.

 

“Hibiki?” Daichi’s confused voice drew him out of his internal panic, but – Hibiki didn’t know. That was a genuine explosion – a _big_ one. Pokemon were crying out – the explosions were getting closer – or bigger, one of the two – and Hibiki was certain that this was not a very nice thing happening right now.

 

Wait. On the news, didn’t it say-

 

_“…an explosion occurred late last night on the outskirts of Castelia City that led to the death of Roland Caster, a well-known Trainer from Black City…”_

Fuck.

 

“Um,” Hibiki began, turning to his friend. “Maybe you should put some pants on.”

 

Daichi stared at him, but didn’t question him. Quickly, he stood up, his Eevee’s trembling form in his hands, and made his way to Hibiki’s bedroom. While he was doing that, Hibiki quickly strode over to the coat hanger near his door, picking up his bunny hooded jacket, and his bag. There was a frantic sort of energy thrumming through him now, and the ground was trembling insistently–nothing more than a mild shake, but it was getting worse with each passing second.

 

“Belle,” Hibiki called, and instantly she was at his side. He felt her claws curl into the fabric of his jacket, holding it tightly, and he waited anxiously for his friend. He didn’t know where they were going to go, but _here_ seemed a lot less safe than moving away from whatever was causing those explosions – in the middle of Castelia City too! Hibiki didn’t even want to think how many people were injured from the blast Hibiki had witnessed.

 

“Ready!” Daichi was stumbling through his dark apartment, Jack still held tightly in his arms – he was still wearing Hibiki’s sweater, but he had his jacket and scarf thrown over the top of it, his bag sling over his shoulders. Hibiki just nodded and quickly opened the door.

 

He still locked it up, but the pair of them raced down the stairwell of the apartment building like it was on fire immediately afterwards. They could see some residents milling about in the hallway in confusion, their Pokemon leaping or running about in a frenzied panic. None of them seemed to exhibit the same urgency that he and Daichi did – they just seemed innocently confused. It just – didn’t settle right.

 

It was different story once they hit the street. The noise of panicked Pokemon was overwhelming loud, and the noise of blaring car and burglar alarms screamed above it all in a cacophony of wailing, mixed with the chaos of people and Pokemon alike running about in the street – some were running away, others were standing about in confusion, some were trying to control their frenzied Pokemon...

 

The smell of smoke was also lingering in the air, the dark sky filled with the noise of local Flying Pokemon taking to the skies. It was almost like a scene in a disaster movie. Hibiki didn’t know how to react – which direction to run towards – in his glimpse earlier, the explosion looked like it came from the mainland Route entrance…

 

“Holy shit…” Daichi muttered next to him, holding his Eevee tight to his chest. His face was an alarming shade of white, but there was determined set to his mouth when he looked at Hibiki. “W-Where should we go?”

 

“I-” Hibiki was interrupted when the ground gave a massive _heave_ , almost sending them all to the floor. Hibiki felt Belle grab onto his waist, keeping him steady, just as he reached out to steady Daichi. All three of them stood there when the ground calmed, all clinging to each other, huddling together like terrified Mareep when a noise… a horrible, gurgling noise…

 

“%ῼ∆β?”

 

The next explosion was close enough that the end of the street lit up like a bonfire. The heat was intense even from where they were standing, and all three of them crouched down in a panic, squeezing their eyes shut from the glare and hot blast of air, waiting until the roar died down to open them again. The entire street was hazy with grey smoke, and that gurgling noise echoed once more. The street was eerily silent except for that.

 

“W-What… w-w-was…” Daichi was barely able to string together a coherent sentence. He was hugging Jack so tightly it was a miracle the Eevee wasn’t suffocating, his entire body shaking slightly as he stared down the street.

 

Hibiki was beyond talking. He swallowed thickly, gripping onto Belle’s paw with one hand, and Daichi’s arm with the other, his legs tensed in preparation to run. The street was calm now. No one was running about – some people were sprawled on the floor, knocked down by the force of the nearby explosion, and as for those further down the street, closer to where it happened… they… they were p-probably…

 

A strange sucking noise cut through the quiet air then – like a Charizard taking in a deep inhale before a Fire Blast. Hibiki held his breath when something seemed to be moving in the smog down the street, a silhouette forming as it came closer… and closer… closer…

 

A _thing_ came into view.

 

For one bizarre moment, Hibiki wondered if he was on the set of PokeStudios. It wasn’t anything like Hibiki had ever seen before. It looked like – an _ice cream cone_. The bottom half was conical, striped in bright rainbow colours that rotated in a slow, calm manner – and atop of it was a pulsating pink _blob_. It looked like a sponge of some sort, that gurgling noise emitting from one of the many tiny holes perforating its surface. It looked downright ridiculous.

 

“The hell is that?” Daichi blurted, his voice higher pitched from fear.

 

The pink mass started to wobble, and the sucking noise sounded again – it doubled in size, the cone tipping as if adjusting the extra weight. Ridiculous. It looked so ridiculous. Hibiki had never been so terrified in his life.

 

“I don’t…” Hibiki began, his voice nothing more than a croak. “Let’s just… okay, let’s move… alright…?”

 

Very slowly, he, Daichi, and Belle, got to their feet and started to cautiously move backwards. The pink blob cone thing tracked their movements – moving slowly after them, bobbing and weaving between overturned cars and lampposts. Hibiki could see a group of people start to rise up from the ground, where they’d been knocked down earlier and – no, the pink blob thing wasn’t tracking _them_ – it was making their steady way towards the people.

 

“S-Shit…” Daichi whispered, stopping when he came to the same realisation. What should they do?

 

“Ugh…” Hibiki could hear one of the people’s voices. It was the rough accent of a back alley punk, and their flashy colours came into view when they were standing up fully. Oh, it was one of the local gangs that made their home in the nearby alleyways. Hibiki could only watch the bright green Mohawk bob when the guy turned towards the ominously advancing creature, waving his hand in the air.

 

“The fuck was that-?! This some weirdass Pokemon?”

 

“I-Is he a-a lunatic?” Daichi hissed. They all stopped to stare, even though Hibiki felt a horrible feeling start to spread through his stomach as the scene began to unfold. The punk’s gang started to rally around what Hibiki guessed to be the leader, all brandishing their PokeBalls before the creature. The pink blob seemed entirely unthreatened, the soft gurgling constantly leaving it.

 

Interrupted by a loud sucking noise – the pink blob was now utterly massive, the surface stretched tight. It was within twenty metres of the punks now, and the green haired leader lobbed his ball with a brave shout – a Scraggy came out with a cry, and the pink blob contracted abruptly, a low whine building up-

 

Belle knocked Hibiki and Daichi down to the floor, her small form trying to cover both of them when a terrible roar bellowed out. The ground shook, Hibiki’s ears rang from the sheer sound, and the heat was almost painful. Hibiki could hear Daichi letting out a terrified shout next to him. When the heat and noise died down, Hibiki was half-deaf, his ears still ringing shrilly, and skin still burning slightly from the lingering heat.

 

Hibiki pushed himself up on his hands and knees, Belle leaning off of them, and the smoke was so thick he could barely see, bits of ash floating in the near vicinity. Nausea immediately flipped in his stomach, and he frantically pushed himself to his feet, panic starting to settle in. That ash was – ash was – the punks-

 

Daichi was up in seconds after him, Jack still in his arms, and from the smoke, the pink blob creature came – calmly. As the smoke cleared, Hibiki could see clumps of ash from where the punks had been earlier – had. Had been. Had.

 

Hibiki couldn’t move, and Daichi and Belle seemed in a similar state. All he could hear was his heartbeat pounding in his ears – what could they do? This seemed like a – horror film. There was no way this could be a Pokemon… could it? It was self-destructing, but never fainted – never even _died_ considering the force of its blasts. How could it… do that…? What was it… even…? What was-

 

A sucking noise filled the air, and the pink blob doubled in size. Hibiki’s breathing hitched.

 

Something pointed began to stick out of the many holes in its pink body, then – a sharp whine when the _thing_ used Pin Missile, deadly barbs exploding outwards wildly. The barbs plunged into nearby windows, into the side of buildings and – towards them-!!

 

“Run!” Daichi yelled, and Hibiki felt his friend grab and yank on his arm, hauling him towards a nearby car. All three of them lunged behind it, crouching down when the barbs slammed into the car’s metal surface. One exploded through the passenger window, slamming only a foot away from them into the pavement. They all cowered against the side of the car, their heads bowed down low against the relentless barrage.

 

The car was groaning as well, only able to take so much punishment – how many times could it use Pin Missile-?! This was insane-!

 

_“Hydro Pump!”_

 

The barrage stopped, the air filled with a fine drizzle when a massive blast of water surged down the street. Hibiki cautiously lifted his head, peering over the edge of the bonnet to see the Hydro Pump slam the pink blob flat against the ground. Where did that come from…?

 

He looked down the street – and there, the first thing he saw was a Kingdra. It was floating in the middle of the street, its squinted eyes staring down the pink blob creature haughtily, and beside it was- Hibiki remembered yesterday, with the woman in the car and the JP’s logo on her chest – it was her-!

 

The woman with a face set in a stern expression of cold determination, a hand on her hip as the other clutched Kingdra’s PokeBall firmly. She started taking swift steps forwards, and her eyes caught Hibiki’s wide-eyed ones. Her cold mask didn’t even falter.

 

“H-Hey!” Daichi had sat up at some point, and was waving frantically at the woman. “Y-You need to help us! This thing- it killed-!”

 

The woman stopped, her eyes snapping back to the pink blob creature that was beginning to rise up once more. “Help you? You should be helping me! Aren’t you Pokemon Trainers?”

 

“W-Wha-” Daichi stuttered, but Hibiki was already pushing himself up, Lopunny hopping after him. His heart was hammering – this woman was JP’s, but – this thing killed people, who knows how many – and – Hibiki didn’t know what thoughts were going through his head at that moment. All he could think was – ‘we will die. Belle will die. Daichi will die. This woman will die’.

 

He couldn’t let that happen.

 

Pressing his hand against the bonnet of the car for support, he inhaled.

 

The pink blob gurgled and

 

The woman pointed, shouted;

 

“ _Hydro Pump!_ ”

 

Burst of water – but the pink blob spun wildly out of the way, the jet of water slamming in a nearby truck, totalling it but Hibiki-

 

“ _Return!”_

 

Belle was leaping in the air, and her foot slammed hard into the pink, blobby surface. The Lopunny somersaulted away immediately, and the pink blob wobbled back a few feet, looking unsteady and-

 

“ _Q-Quick Attack!”_

 

Jack’s small form darted out like an arrow, barrelling into the base of the pink blob’s cone. With a panicked noise, the creature toppled forwards, flat on the floor – and Jack scampered around it, fleeing as fast as its tiny legs would take it to Daichi.

 

They were all breathing hard, and Hibiki could feel a bead of sweat roll down from his temple as they watched the creature – it slowly started to rise up again, looking like it wasn’t even scathed, and – another sucking noise, its form doubling in size. I-it was getting ready to explode-!

 

The woman cursed, and snapped out; “ _Water Pulse_!”

 

The Kingdra spewed out a surge of water pulses, the oddly shaped rings slamming into the creature’s form. It gurgled, then wobbled wildly, spinning in dizzying circles. It was confused!

 

But the pink blob was growing bigger – and bigger – at a faster rate, and it was so close – there was no way they could escape from the blast and, a low whine built up, and Hibiki was-

 

He didn’t know what possessed him to do what he did next. He had an odd habit of carrying a spare PokeBall on his belt, if only because one never knew when they needed it to capture a Pokemon, whether they were interested in being a Trainer or not. In his panic, in his knowledge that in the next second, they would otherwise be dead, he grabbed the spare PokeBall from his belt, and lobbed it as hard as he could at the creature.

 

Time slowed, the whine now a painful shrill, the PokeBall arched in the air, spun, then fell and – it opened in a burst of white light, just as the creature looked ready to explode, sucking it inside and falling harmlessly to the floor. The ball wobbled wildly, frantically, even bouncing several times off of the floor before-

 

_‘Click’._

 

The PokeBall settled.

 

There was a long moment of utter silence, everyone just staring at the PokeBall before Hibiki sunk to his knees in an abrupt, heavy movement. He sat on the floor, breathing quickly as his heart rapidly pounded a tattoo against the inside of his rib cage, his hands shaking. Holy shit. Holy _shit_. Holy shit. They were alive.

 

“W-We’re…we’re alive…” he heard Daichi choke behind him, followed by the heavy slump of his friend hitting the floor as well. “We’re alive…!”

 

Hibiki saw the woman walk towards the PokeBall, her expression set in a complicated way. She stopped before it, then bent down, delicately scooping it up. She stared down at it in her hand before making her way towards Hibiki. In the dim light, Hibiki could see the golden JP’s logo on her chest – and he remembered, this was Team JP’s-

 

“Here,” she said, her mouth set in a thin line as she held out the PokeBall, “You captured this fairly. Dubhe is yours.”

 

…Dubhe?

 

“Huh?” Hibiki blurted.

 

The woman just held the PokeBall out insistently, her eyes shadowed. “Dubhe… it’ll be… apparent soon.”

 

The noise of a police siren cut through the air then, and she lifted her head with a frown before shoving the PokeBall roughly into Hibiki’s limp hands. Startled, all Hibiki could do was clutch the ball as the woman recalled her Kingdra, turning away from them quickly.

 

“W-Wait-!” Hibiki cried out, “Who are you?!”

 

The woman paused and then glanced back at them. She frowned, before her expression eased into something not quite a smile – and partly apologetic. “I am Makoto Sako. My apologies.”

 

Unsure as to what the woman was apologising for, he watched as she swiftly ran away, her form being swallowed up in the lingering smoke instantly. What was… going on…? Dubhe. She called this creature Dubhe. She knew what it was – she went to fight it – the creature, Dubhe, killed people, she was Team JP’s, Team JP’s knew of creatures like Dubhe, it was-

 

“ _…However, one thing has been learned from this supposed ‘leak’; rumours of new Legendary Pokemon have been mentioned repeatedly by this ‘Team JPs’ – specifically_ seven _new Legendaries. All we were given was a name for the seven: ‘Septentrione’…”_

 

Was this… Dubhe…one of these Legendaries the news mentioned yesterday? One of the ‘Septentrione’?

 

The thought of six more of these things crashing through Castelia City made Hibiki’s blood run cold, and he clutched the PokeBall so tight he heard the plastic coating creak. He wanted to lob the PokeBall as far away as possible from him. This creature killed so many people, it killed…

 

“Hibiki…” Daichi’s voice reached him, and he felt a hand settle on his shoulder. He jumped a little, looking over his shoulder to see his friend leaning towards him worriedly. “W-What should we do? The police are coming, and, the, that thing that did all this, you’ve…”

 

Hibiki just stared at him. That’s right. He just caught whatever caused this – but to the police, Hibiki owned the creature that just murdered who knows how many people, and the only witness to say he caught it after it wrought its destruction ran off – and the other was his best friend. Maybe Hibiki should just throw this PokeBall into a nearby trashcan or-

 

No. What if someone found it? This thing was powerful…

 

“Let’s…just… let’s just get out of here,” Hibiki said, his voice sounding odd to his ears. There was too much buzzing inside his head. His legs felt like rubber when he staggered to his feet, his friend’s hand firm on his shoulder, and they just stared at nothing for a minute, the wailing of the police siren getting louder.

 

“…c’mon,” Daichi said quietly, and Hibiki nodded. They all started to run; avoiding looking at the ash covered ground and ruined buildings, unsure of where they were running to. It had to be somewhere though – somewhere where… where…

 

Where…

 

 

* * *

 

 

The hollow room groaned.

 

“I see. Keep them under observation.”

 

The figure stood alone before the slowly turning clockwork machinery, his form in silhouette from the gentle, golden light drifting between the teeth of the cogs. He lowered his hand from where it was raised to his ear; his slim fingers snapping shut his mobile phone. His lips were curved into a cold smile.  

 

“So… this is the ‘Champion’ you chose, Alcor?”

 

“He is interesting.”

 

Another figure, Alcor, was suddenly sitting on the edge before the cogs, only a few metres away from the silhouetted figure, one knee tucked close to his chest, with his arm resting atop of it. His pale hair reflected the soft light, making it look golden. He was gazing at the other man from the corner of his eye, his expression neutral.

 

“They’re always interesting,” The man muttered. He turned, and his boots clicked loudly against the polished floor as he walked away. They echoed just as hollowly as the groaning cogs. “But this changes nothing. Your Champion will fall before me, in defeat or in submission.”

 

As the footsteps faded, and Alcor was alone before the slowly turning cogs, a soft sigh filled the air before he slowly vanished, melting away into nothingness. Stillness fell. Then.

 

The hollow room groaned.   


End file.
